From the author of

From the author of

In this mini-tutorial, you'll learn how to create the illusion of a laser beam lancing across your TV screen. This effect is made possible by using the Lightning effect, which comes standard with Premiere Elements 7. In just a few steps, you'll learn how to tame and keyframe the Lightning effect to create a viable "laser beam" that adds significant realism to your SF movies.

What Is the 'Lasers of Doom' Effect?

For the sake of this article, the Lasers of Doom effect creates the visual illusion of a weapon firing a beam of light. Of course, this is only one application of the laser effect; by using the same techniques you learn here, you'll find it just as easy to build a "laser net," of the type that Catherine Zeta-Jones elegantly clambers through in the film Entrapment. In fact, once you've mastered this effect, you'll probably find hundreds of ways to apply it in your very own special effects projects.